Guides ›Create your first task list
Play: Create your first task list ~1 min

Create your first task list

A list in Ziptask is a job, and the items on it are the pieces of that job. Create one, assign it to your team, and their progress shows up for you in real time — no texts, no phone calls, no driving out to check.

This is the foundation everything else builds on. If you do nothing else, do this.

The video follows a landscaping crew, but the same one-minute setup works for any kind of work — cleaning, maintenance, construction, whatever you run.

Before you start

You’ll want at least one other person on your account so you can assign the list to them. If it’s just you so far, invite a teammate first — see Members — then come back here.

Steps

A list only needs a title to exist — everything else is optional. You can add the items and set who’s assigned on the list’s own page afterward, so it’s fine to build the whole list out first and assign it once it’s ready.

  1. Create a list. Open your task lists and start a new one. Give it a name you’ll recognize at a glance — many teams name a list after the job or the site it’s for, so anyone can tell which one it is from their phone.

  2. Add the items. Each item is one piece of the job. Add them as fast as you can type — at your desk or standing on site. Keep them short and action-first, the way you’d jot a checklist on paper.

  3. Assign the list to your crew. Choose one or more people to work this list — they’re the ones who’ll pick up its items in the field. (You’re not handing out individual items; you’re putting the whole list in their hands.)

  4. Your crew picks up the work. Out on site, they open the list on their phone, pick up an item to claim it — so nobody doubles up — and check it off when it’s done.

  5. Watch it happen. As items get completed, the list updates for you instantly — you can see where the job stands without asking anyone.

That’s the whole loop: a list is a job, the items are the work, and your team works it from their phones. Everything else in Ziptask — photo proof, projects, recurring work — builds on top of it.

What’s next

  • Require photo proof and sign-off — make an item impossible to close without a photo, and approve it yourself before it counts as done.
  • Members — invite your team, set roles, and manage who can do what.
  • Tasks — the full reference on lists, items, and everything you can set on them.